Remembering My Dad on Father's Day

I drove a vehicle for the first time when I was 5 years old. My Dad and brothers were "bucking" bales and my job was to drive the truck. It was an old pickup. Dad would sit me in the drivers seat, and tell me to hold the steering wheel steady and go straight. He then put it in first gear and closed the door. I can remember getting a little nervous as the fence started getting closer and closer, but at the last minute Dad would always open the door, scoot me over, and turn the truck around.

When I was a little older Dad would give me opportunities to "make some money". I remember being paid $1 a gallon to pick blackberries. My brothers and I would get up really early, dressed in our jeans and long sleeved flannel shirts (so we didn't get stuck by the bushes). We would also spend a lot of time dodging bees and an occasional snake. It took forever to pick a gallon of blackberries. The other big job I had each summer was to pick weeds out of the cornfield. Dad didn't have money for pesticide so my brothers and I would meet out in the soybean field. We would each take 4 rows (2 on each side of us) and walk from one end of the field to the other, pulling button weeds and cockleburs. It was a hot job and we were always glad when we got back to the truck where the water jug was. Dad paid us $1 an hour. The summer when I was around 14 I got the priviledge of driving the tractor and picking up the BIG bales of hay with the sticker on the back. I would lower the sticker and pick up the bale, then carry it to the other field where I would have to line it up with the others. This was actually fun :)
I always loved working with my Dad. Those years spent doing chores with him on my Granddad's farm and helping him in the garage/workshop were the happiest of my life. Even after I left home, married, and had kids of my own; Dad would call me up to tell me about some new tool he had bought, or a new project he had begun. His enthusiasm was contagious :)

Dad, thank you for all the memories. I love you.
Melissa